Ethylenethiourea in urine as an indicator of exposure to mancozeb in vineyard workers

In the present study, the personal exposure to mancozeb and/or ethilenethiourea (ETU) in 13 Italian vineyard workers and in 13 subjects without occupational exposure to pesticides was investigated. With this aim, the level of ETU in urine and the dermal exposure to mancozeb were determined. Baseline urinary ETU results were lower than the analytical limit of detection for all controls (<0.5 microg/g creatinine) and for ten workers (median <0.5, range <0.5-3.4 microg/g creatinine). In workers, urinary ETU was significantly increased at the end of shift (2.5, <0.5-95.2 microg/g creatinine) compared with baseline levels. End-shift urinary ETU was higher in operators using open tractors (n=7) than in those using closed tractors (n=5) (16.2 vs. 2.4 microg/g creatinine), but the difference was not significant (P=0.073). End-shift urinary ETU was positively correlated with dermal exposure to mancozeb determined both over the clothes and on the skin (Spearman's rho=0.770 and 0.702, P=0.009 and 0.024, respectively). Wine consumption positively influenced the excretion of ETU.